Jigoku Chou
by Yamarai-chan
Summary: Kurosaki Karin, soon to be wife of Ite Shunsuke knows she's in love with Hitsugaya, but she's marrying Ite Shunsuke anyway. Can Hitsugaya get her back before it's too late? KarinHitsu FINALLY UPDATED
1. Chapter 1

This story was inspired by my seventh cousin, removed seventeen times – seriously – Rangiku, whom I met yesterday. My cousin's name is Rangiku... it's really weird. Any who, thank you my strange cousin with a daughter I call Kurotsuchi Mayuri, I am in debt for this story idea.

Disclaimer – If I owned bleach, would I be torturing my characters or would it actually be happening in the manga? The only one I do own is Ite Shunsuke, but he's only the bad guy and has barely a role in it at all P YAY! I don't like OC's much either. Only as back ups for your plot devices... heh heh heh. Long disclaimer...

**Fuyu Sensou no Owari – The End of the Winter War**

It had been something more than three and a half years since the Winter war in Hueco Mundo had begun but for not a second had the eldest Kurosaki daughter left the Juubantai taichou's mind.

It had been over for a couple of months, but the Juubantai taichou had spent most of that time either in the infirmary or controlling his screwed up squad head quarters.

He had been the only one to return with scars. He refused to let anyone heal him first as others needed healing and some of his wounds healed over them selves, but they left scars, unlike the ones that were healed by a member of the yonbantai.

Everyone in his squad reminded him, he actually had war scars. Zaraki Kenpachi, the juuichibantai taichou had tried to get the younger captain to boast about his scars, as they were a sign of strength to Zaraki and his squad. But he didn't want to know about the scar, cut across his cheek in a diagonal direction just missing his left aquamarine eye.

The war had reminded him that Hyourinmaru, his zanpuktou was not a solid mass that could not break. Hyourinmaru had shattered, but the hilt remained. Hyourinmaru was returned to his normal state after a day or so, but it had made being in enemy territory extremely difficult. Materializing the ice dragon had solved most of the problem. A giant ice dragon that can control the weather and freeze everything in a single breath was rather frightening, after all.

But this moment had been more frightening than any time in Hueco Mundo. Absolutely nothing had made him feel so worried. Ichigo had told him that Karin had moved to an apartment on the outside of Karakura town.

Hitsugaya Toushirou had knocked, exactly four times for every minute for the last two and fifty nine seconds.

"Karin? Are you in there?" He called, knocking on the door for the third time.

The woman who opened the door didn't remind him of the teenager he had left behind to go to war, nor did he remind her of the man who had left her.

"Tou...shirou," She muttered, turning to the cries of a young girl and a young boy behind her.

"Karin," he said, glad that it was actually her. Ichigo had sent him to the wrong place before, which ended up making him look like an idiot.

"'kaasa, who is the strange man at ta door?" Chou asked, her name short for Jigoku-Chou or Hell Butterfly.

"This man is Hitsugaya Toushirou, Chou-chan,"

"Can he see ghosts too?"

"Yes he can,"

"Oh! Is he a ghost?"

"I don't think so at the moment. Are you Hitsugaya-taichou? Or are you in a gigai again?"

Hitsugaya was taken aback. Since when has Karin talked so politely to him? Had she really changed that much. And was Chou actually her daughter?

"I'm in a gigai,"

"Like the one Urahara-san has? Kawaii!" Chou smiled standing in the doorway beside Karin.

"Urahara-san's is cute isn't it? You like Yoruichi's, don't you Chou?" Karin smiled.

"Neko kawaii! Neko kawaii!"

"Why don't you go find Otousan and Ryuushirou, Chou?"

"'kaasa! Chou wants to talk to Hisugaia-kun!"

"Jigoku-Chou..."

"Chou's going!" The little girl said, running away from her mother. The little girl had long black hair and aquamarine eyes and looked like she preferred the cold weather just by the way she was acting when it was snowing outisde.

Yes, Hitsugaya Toushirou was standing in the snow.

"Is there a reason you came here, Hitsugaya-taichou?" Karin asked, obviously not interested in anything he wanted to say or for the fact he was there at all.

"Iie, I just thought I would come and see how you were, since it's been so long,"

"I take it the winter war has finished, hasn't it?" Karin asked, "I take it that the Soul Society were victorious? I saw Ichigo walking around Karakura the other day."

Hitsugaya was stunned. Surely, this Karin was different from the Karin he had met, eight years ago and had eventually grown close to. She was the football fanatic that loved her family and never wanted to leave her family incase they needed her.

This Karin's eyes were red and blood shot, from crying or lack of sleep or a combination of the two, and her clothes were only ironed slightly, enough to get rid of major wrinkles. There was no beautiful smile, no glimmering obsidian eyes, no laugh, no playful 'Toushirou!' and there seemed to be no sight of happiness in her stature.

"Yes, we were. Aizen won't return to harm anyone again,"

"That's good news," Karin said, but she didn't sound like she cared at all, "Is Hinamori alright?"

"Ah, Hinamori has recovered slightly. She still has a while to go,"

"I hope she gets better,"

He was praying for his phone to go off. If it went off, he wouldn't have to stand here, next to the nightmare he once admitted that he loved and once made him happy.

_Hyourinmaru! Think of something!_

_**Since when did you start asking my opinions, Taichou-chan? You've changed because of the war, haven't you?**_

_Hyourinmaru! You worthless piece of sh-_

_**Hey! If you say that, I'll stop responding when you need me.**_

_Just hurry up and think of something._

_**Fine... **_The ice dragon whined as he did something, causing Hitsugaya's phone to start beeping wildly.

"What the...?" Hitsugaya asked, checking his phone, "I'm sorry Karin, but-"

"It's alright. Your Shinigami duties come above all else, ne? It was nice to see you again," Karin said, closing the door as Hitsugaya ran off, trying to get as far away as possible.

His back hit a tree as he slid down, unsure of how he felt, but it sure wasn't natural.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto said, running quickly to her captain, "Daijoubu desu ka?"

The orange haired woman was frightened for her captain's mental stability. The speed she had noticed him arrive at the small park was not reassuring and for him to have collapsed against a tree and looked so distressed was another thing all together.

"Matsumoto, I think I've just witnessed the scariest and strangest thing in the living world, Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society," Hitsugaya said, trying to breathe normally. Matsumoto had never known her Taichou to find anything frightening or strange. Everything was as it should have been.

"What's that, Taichou?"

"Kurosaki Karin,"

"Eh?!?!"

It's weird, I know, but I guess that's just the starter.

Review please.

Masashi-kun (my cousin) is gonna kill me... I was supposed to be studying when I wrote this so please review to make it worth while!!

Yamarai-chan


	2. Chapter 2

**Sore ga Owa ru Toki - When times stops.**

The sky was not inviting to Karin as she walked down the broken path, each cobble stone digging into her bare feet. She was out the back of her own house as she picked up her children's play toys. They were of numerous colors; Pink, blue, red, orange. There were so many the children could play with. One toy was of a familiar white and black color - it was actually one that Karin once owned. A football laid on the grass, almost untouched. Karin was tempted to kick it. It had been a long time since she had even touched a soccer ball lightly. Ite Shunsuke, her soon to be husband, didn't like it when women played sports reserved for men, such as football or rugby league. He found it very unreasonable.

"Women aren't meant to run around fields to chase after balls and hurt each other. It's just not reasonable!" He once said to her. Karin doubted that he was actually serious about that. What happened to the women's leagues?

Karin sighed, picking up the football with her foot and bouncing it on her knee to get it into her hands.

An amazed Ryuushirou stood in the doorway with a plastic blue cup in his hands. "Woah. Since when could you do that, kaasan? I've never seen you do that before."

Karin turned around, holding the football in her hands. "I used to play football when I was little. I haven't played for a long time though."

Ryuushirou didn't understand. "Why did you stop playing, kaasan?"

Karin smiled gently in a way only a mother could. "Well, usually older girls don't play football."

Ryuushirou bowed his head. "But why not, kaasan?"

Karin rubbed her son's white hair. "Well, because girls when they are old enough to work don't play games that you get muddy and dirty anymore. It's not considered 'lady-like'."

Ryuushirou raised a white eyebrow. "What's lady-like?"

Karin chuckled. "You're full of questions today, aren't you? Go inside and see what your father is doing while I finish picking these up, okay?"

And Ryuushirou did just that: he ran inside, looking for his father.

Karin took her basket of toys inside and closed the door with a heavy sigh. She still had to cook dinner and wash some of the clothes before six, which gave her just over an hour. But that was easier said than done.

Loading the washing machine was a task in itself. She would have to walk through every room to collect anything that looked like washing because if she asked Jigoku Chou to help, Chou brought every piece of clothing and stuffed toy into the laundry in hope that they could come out sparkly and clean. Chou still didn't understand that clean things don't need to be washed again until they were dirty and teddy bears can't be washed too often because it ruins them.

Walking through Ryuushirou's room, Karin looked at her son's posters of cars and swords, much to her disgust. He was only young and yet he had been put in a room with the things that had seperated her from the man she used to love. Karin had a passion for hatred against swords, although she used one quite often.

She was still a shinigami, yes, but she prefered the real world for her children. The Soul Society was always filled with conflict and war. She hoped that her children could grow up and be almost normal. She hoped that the only thing that set them apart from the rest was their abnormal spiritual pressure, but that was it. She was sure that one day they would be noticed, but every day she prayed for it not to happen. At least not until they could understand the evils of the living and dead worlds. Karin struggled to explain why Ryuushirou and Chou could see ghosts and Shunsuke pleaded that the children had only overactive imaginations and Karin played along as if she could not see them.

She felt the light spiritual pressure of her fiance looming over her as she picked up the clothing her own bedroom that she shared. The man was quite tall and daunting. You could see the terror he struck on unknowing children's faces.

His hands grabbed onto her and made her drop the basket as the door slammed closed. "How are you, Karin-chan? I heard that you impressed Ryuushirou with your football skills. I thought that we agreed for you not to play football while you live under this household."

Karin cringed as he bit the corner of her neck. "I-Ite-kun, I was merely picking up the ball. I used my foot to get it up high enough I could catch it. I was not playing."

Shunsuke's hands latched onto his soon-to-be wife. He turned her around and pinned her down to the bed with one arm, the other reaching to lock the door so the children couldn't come in. His hands held her sides down as he bit at every bit of flesh he could reach and sucked at it, much to Karin's dislike. Everytime she made a move or sound to protest, he would cut into her with his teeth or hands, whichever he found more appropriate at the time.

Karin whimpered as quietly as she could, which had luckily fallen on Shunsuke's deaf ears. She hated it when he touched her, but he provided her children a home and somewhere safe. If this was what it took to keep her children safe, so be it: she would do anything for her children.

A few minutes of torture later, which, quite frankly, seemed to last a lot longer, a small knock came on the door. "kaasan, are you in there?"

Shunsuke let go and Karin took a deep breath, glad that she could actually move away from him. "Yes, Chou. What is it?"

She got up, her legs still wobbily. Chou sounded half way between excited and worried. "Someone is at the door for you."

Karin opened the bedroom door with the basket of washing in her hands. The halls were long and pointless, but if you were to play hide and seek, you could find numerous places to hide and definately not get caught.

She placed the basket in the laundry and walked to the front door, a familiar face standing in the doorway. "Ichi-nii?"

She was surprised that he would turn up at her house. He stood calmly at the doorway. "Are you alright? You're bleeding."

Karin looked for where she was bleeding and wiped off the blood. "I tripped over. Why are you here, Ichi-nii?"

Ryuushirou stood next to Karin with one hand holding onto her leg. Ichigo smiled. "We're celebrating that everyone got back from, well, you know where."

Karin sighed. "Why am I celebrating?"

Ichigo was taken back. "What do you mean? Everyone is back and we don't have to worry about Aizen anymore."

Ryuushirou tugged on his mother's sleeve. "kaasan, who is Aizen?"

Karin sighed. "Aizen is a bad guy that was hurting lots of people, Ryuushirou."

Ryuushirou hid back behind Karin's leg once he was satisfied with his mother's answer. "Okay."

Karin took the letter from Ichigo and sighed. "We might come."

Ichigo smiled. "Hopefully you do. I have to go. It was good seeing you again."

Karin only slightly smiled. "It was. Bye."

Karin closed the door and sighed. "Chou is worried about kaasan! Kaasan saw strange man and now she is acting funny."

Karin smiled for her daughter. "That strange man was your uncle."

**END CHAPTER 2**

Wow. I feel so lazy. I was meant to update this months ago. Anywho, It's updated, and I hope to update again this weekend.

Yamarai-chan


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